Shock-Wave Energy Inspiration for Development of Super-Strong Materials

9/17/2013

Purdue University doctoral student Matthew Beason works on equipment for research that is part of a national effort to develop new materials created using shock waves similar to those generated by meteorites striking the Earth. (Source: Purdue University)

This seems like a revolutionary idea to create such a force on materials to test them for strength, but in a way it also makes perfect sense. I can't think of a more effective way to see how strong something is--in various aspects of life--than to exert extreme pressure on it. And it seems like the scientists feel the same way.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

Kaspersky Labs indicated at its February meeting that cyber attacks are far more sophisticated than previous thought. It turns out even air-gapping (disconnecting computers from the Internet to protect against cyber intrusion) isn’t a foolproof way to avoid getting hacked. And Kaspersky implied the NSA is the smartest attacker.

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